


Unhinged

by liquidheartbeats



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: F/M, One Shot, mild-violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-24
Updated: 2017-01-24
Packaged: 2018-09-19 14:22:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9445217
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liquidheartbeats/pseuds/liquidheartbeats
Summary: One shot based on an upcoming episode, which features Plunder. This is my imagining of what happens after he's captured.





	

**Author's Note:**

> PLEASE leave me comments!
> 
> Tumblr: liquidheartbeats.tumblr.com

"Move Wally! I'm gonna kill him!" Barry struggled to speed past his apprentice, to gain access to Plunder's containment cell. Wally's raw speed, coupled with their rigorous training sessions, had made him excellent security guard. Every single fake-out, every false move Barry tried to do to get at Plunder, Wally Blocked. "Goddamn it, Wally. Move!"

The whole room: Cisco, Joe and Iris, watched as the two speedsters battled for dominance, twisting, thrashing and speeding around in circles.

Bro-" Wally struggled to catch his breath. He didn't know how much longer he could keep Barry away. "Calm down!"

The cause of this mayhem? Well, Plunder kidnapped Iris, held her hostage for hours, and pulled a gun on her. Barry didn't even know if he could save her from Savitar, and now this man had threatened her, elevating the danger that had already surrounded her like thick, black fog. If he and Wally hadn't gotten there when he did, she could have died.

The thought enraged Barry. If he could...just..get...past...Wally, he was going to phase through the wall and rip out that bastard's heart. "Wally, I don't wanna hurt you, but get the fuck out of the way!

"Barry no!" Iris wasn't used to seeing this side of Barry. This anger. This passion to kill. "Stop this!." She'd been screaming for what felt like forever, but Barry had gone off the deep end. "PLEASE!! Barry PLEASE" Her voice rippled throughout the room, like a fog horn.

He'd heard her, even in the midst of the chaos, but chose to ignore her. She hadn't made this any easier for him. Not only did Plunder pull a gun on her, Iris challenged him by stepping into it, like she was bulletproof. Like she wanted to die. The images came flooding back to him like a bad dream, stopping him in his tracks.

Wally heaved in the corner to get enough oxygen flowing through his veins, but watched Barry intently as he walked over to Iris.

"Please? Please? You want me to stop? Thee hell were doing out there, Iris?" Barry yelled. " Stepping into the gun? Were you TRYING to give me a FUCKING HEART ATTACK?"

"Aye Barry--, "Wally started, before being silenced by Joe with his hand.

"Barry," Joe gently pushed Iris aside, and stood where she had been, so that he was face to face with the angry speedster. "I understand that you're afraid, and under a lot of stress, and aren't thinking clearly but: you betta WATCH THAT TONE when speaking to my daughter." Joe nudged him in the chest. "Especially in my presence. "

Tension radiated throughout the room. Cisco's mouth sat agape, and had for at least the last five minutes.

This was not the Barry he'd come to know over to past three years. This was a man, backed up against a wall, both literally and figuratively---who felt desperate and helpless to save his true love, and was acting out as a result. A man who was about to die at the hands of Joe West, pissed off detective, extraordinaire, if he didn't intervene.

"Hey, how about we take a little breather, huh?" Cisco propped his hand on Joe's shoulder, smiled and nodded towards the exit. "Please."

Joe sighed and walked with Cisco, away from Barry, out of the cortex. That left Wally and Iris. And Plunder, safely locked away.

"AGhhh!" Barry turned and punched the wall, before turning to exit the room. When Iris started in behind him. Wally grabbed her shoulder.

"You sure you want to do that, sis? I know that he wouldn't hurt you, but he obviously needs a minute to calm down."

Iris smiled. Her little brother's concern for her was really touching. She leaned up and kissed his cheek. "Thanks, but I really need to talk to him."

Wally nodded in agreement. "Fine. I'm here if you need me."  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Iris found Barry sitting with his knees to his chest, rocking back and forth. He was sitting on a cot in S.T.A.R lab's makeshift living quarters. "Barry-," she said after a few moments of silence. "I'm sorry for being reckless. I don't know why I did what I did today--"

"I know why you did it, Iris," Barry cut her off. "But I need for you to stop. I am racking my brain to come up with a solution to save you, we all are. But what's the point if you're gonna put yourself in danger? If anything had happened-

"Nothing did happen."

"But it could have. It's like--like you think that the next four months don't matter. But they do. More than anything. These four months will literally determine if you have a future. If we-have a future. I'm doing all I can to make sure that I don't lose you." Tears started to flow from his eyes like rivers.

"Barry, please don't cry. " Iris leaned over and wiped his tears away with her hand, as her own flowed down her face. "Please, baby. I can't stand it."

She leaned wrapped her arms his waist and rested her head on his chest.

It pained him to know that even as her life hanged in the balance, she wanted to be there for him, to take away some of his pain, when it was him that needed to be there for her. He unlooped her arms, and pulled her into him. He placed his hand gently under her chin, causing her to look up. She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, even as tears stained her face. "I'm sorry, Iris. For yelling at you. For scaring you."

Iris settled into his arms, and buried her face into his chest, stroking his back with her other hand. "It's okay, I know that you're scared. I'm scared too, baby, I just don't want you to lose your humanity."

"You are the only thing that matters to me. I will do what-ev-er I have to do to save your life."

Iris pulled away. "But killing Plunder isn't going to save me from Savitar. This is just a way for you to channel this pain you're feeling, but this is not you. You are not a monster. And I don't want you to become one, even If I die-

"No-

"Barry-"

"NO!!"

"BARRY!!" Iris jumped up from the cot, and swung around so that she was standing over him. "You have to accept this! You might not be able to save me!" She closed the distance between them, and put both hands around his face. "And I know, I know that you want to, that you will do everything in your power to save me, but it's possible that I might die in a few months."

"You are NOT going to die, Iris. I won't have it. I will save you. Your life, your light, your spirit, the world needs it. I need you. I love you. I can't lose you." He shook his head in disbelief that he had to have this conversation. That his love was being taken from him. That she wanted to just give up. "I can't lose you. I can't do it."

Iris' leaned down and embraced Barry, leaning her head on top of his, half for his comfort, half for her own. Her tears were flowing non-stop at this point, spilling down onto Barry's forehead. "I don't know what's going to happen, Baby, I don't know, but I do know that we have today. Right now. And the next four months, if nothing else."

"Iris-"

She resumed her place next to him on the cot, and scooted as close to him as was physically possible and locked their fingers together. Iris needed him to feel her. To see her. "I'm here...now. Right now...you have me. "

"Iris--" She put her finger up to his tear stained lips, to quiet him, to keep him from hurting himself any further. The future wasn't promised. For any of them, really. Powers or not, Barry was not a god. "Let's enjoy our time together, Barry. However much time that is. You..are..the love of my life. I don't need o have been with you for years to know that. You are it for me."

"You're it for me, too."  
"Good," Iris wiped her tears on the back of her sleeve and smiled at her boyfriend. "Now, let's go home. Wally can handle Plunder."

Barry's jaw clenched at the sound of his name, but didn't speed off on in pursuit of a rage killing.His anger had been quited by grief, but it still raged inside of him. She could see it on his face, in his eyes, she could feel his heart racing. But for now, things were calm. At least, as calm as they could be.

Chaos would come later. It was certain.


End file.
